Acetone fumes

H

Heckler

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Are they heavier than air or lighter? Am going to do some figlass work in my sugarscoop and am wondering if just a fan to disperse them is sufficient!
S
 
I think they are lighter than air but more important is acetone is extremely flammable with a flash point of -20c (yes minus 20c)

The most hazardous property of acetone is its extreme flammability. At temperatures greater than acetone's flash point of −20 °C (−4 °F), air mixtures of between 2.5% and 12.8% acetone, by volume, may explode or cause a flash fire. Vapors can flow along surfaces to distant ignition sources and flash back. Static discharge may also ignite acetone vapors, though acetone has a very high ignition initiation energy point and therefore accidental ignition is rare. Even pouring or spraying acetone over red-glowing coal will not ignite it, due to the high concentration of vapour and the cooling effect of evaporation of the liquid.[27] It auto-ignites at 465 °C (869 °F). Auto-ignition temperature is also dependent upon the exposure time, thus at some tests it is quoted as 525 °C. Also, industrial acetone is likely to contain a small amount of water which also inhibits ignition.
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VicS said:
but I dont see the relevance of your post ... Just as usual arguing for the sake of arguing. This trait of yours P***es me off
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In which case I apologise.

I assumed (quite possibly incorrectly) that such limits were set for industry where people worked with a particular substance day in and day out, and us amateurs who only get the can out of the shed a couple of times a year could afford to be more casual.

Pete
 
There are issues with styrene fumes, which is what you will be exposed to: in a very confined space I think you will be nauseous at least, you need something to breathe, after all. Though exposure will be brief and not likely to cause lasting damage, it is a carcinogen. It might help to lay up the mat on a board away from the work, so when you apply it you won't be amongst it for long.
 
Not acetone, but had an interesting experience with cellulose vapour. Airfield manager was spraying the registration on a fabric aircraft after recovering; As it was a very cold day, he had a two bar electric heater about six feet away to get some radiant heat to help drying; You can see how this is going......
The vapour drifted down to the floor as heavier than air, then was drawn to the fire by the convection up from the heater. I was in my office off the hanger and heard a woof, opened the door to see a column of smoke in the centre of the hanger, the plane was out of sight as we were packed full with 22 a/c. Grabbed an extinguisher and rolled under the a/c to get there. Burning merrily from cabin to tail and with full tanks. Short story, we put it out.
Common sense would have been to leg it, but the whole place would have been gone well before the pros arrived.
Nearly critical was the second extinguisher to arrive didn't work, despite being under three months old. We had a big wheeled foam unit, but it would have taken far to long to get going and was too far away in the packed hanger.

As one says: Lessons learned....
 
fisherman said:
There are issues with styrene fumes, which is what you will be exposed to: in a very confined space I think you will be nauseous at least, you need something to breathe, after all. Though exposure will be brief and not likely to cause lasting damage, it is a carcinogen. It might help to lay up the mat on a board away from the work, so when you apply it you won't be amongst it for long.
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I remember getting high while working with polyester resin in the pre-careful days, rather than nauseous.
 
ghostlymoron said:
When you use acetone always keep the top on the container as it evaporates very rapidly ( and is expensive).
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Thanks everyone, inc Vic, was very gracious of you to amend your post! The use was going to be, sand inside of back of sugar scoop, wipe with acetone cloth before doing some reinforcing. The two lockers would be opened above the scoop to allow ventilation. One if the beauties of big smkts on the continent is that they sell exotic liquids. Acetone being one. Jumbo, 4 euros a litre! I paid £14 in Milford!
S
 
I am fibre glassing almost every day of the week and go through a fair bit of Acetone as well. You should be wearing a full face protection mask (much more comfortable that goggles and better air flow) and one the carbon chemical fume type breathing masks when mixing and applying the resin. Also have an eye wash bottle handy in case you get a drop of Catalyst in your eye/s, it will burn like a hot coal and can do some very serious damage in just a few seconds.

The dust from sanding fibreglass is also very hazardous and good quality PPE is a must.

As for the styrene fumes emitted during and after application, they can be very strong to the point that your eyes start to water, this is your warning to get out of the area and improve the ventilation. I do not believe there is anything in the styrene fumes that get you high, I suspect I have been exposed to higher concentrations than most and never this problem. However if Acetone is left open it will evaporate, it actually boils around 60*F so take care to secure that lid.

Final reminder/warning The dust from sanding fibreglass is not something you want in your lungs, once in, it can never get out and will do you no good at all for the rest of your life.

Other than that it's a great product allowing you to build, mold or fabricate almost anything and it will still be around for many years after you have shuffled off this mortal coil with a half life in the thousands.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
 
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